Showing posts with label Y-seams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Y-seams. Show all posts

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Glitter Top Done




Glitter Top Done

What a relief to finish this top last week! Okay, I may have been a little sad to see it end, but only for a moment. I've never done any quilt with so many of the same block, and likely won't again for a long while.

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Judy Neimeyer Prismatic Star Finish


Prismatic Star

Judy Neimeyer quilts are iconic within the quilt world as complicated rights of passage into the upper tiers of experienced piecers. But like every new pattern we attempt, our first shot might not go as well as we wish. Learning is not always linear. That doesn't mean the quilt top is terrible, but that we would have a leg up the next time.  So what happens when we finish, and there is a little puffiness here and there, or a slightly wonky, wavy border, or the many other construction swamps we get bogged down in? It happens to me. It happens to you. But what can you do about it when it comes to quilting?

First, be honest with your long arm quilter, and have faith that, yes, some of it can be concealed with quilting.

Monday, April 16, 2018

Giant Rose Star Quilt


The Kite Shape:
Working with 60 Degree Shapes


The kite shape was never on my bucket list of "Have-to-make that!", but likely because I didn't know its capabilities. I hadn't had much experience with it, and needed to know how it related to other shapes in the 60 degree family. 

Did you know the kite shape is a combination of a hexagon and a small triangle married together at one of the six sides? Many of our first shape experiences are as children, and most of us did not encounter it. It's rarely included in shape sets or math books, and we have limited exposure.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Scrappy 60 Degree Hexagons


Adding More Blocks

Last week I played with some scrap blocks built around these 60 degree diamonds on Make It Happen Monday. I was curious if the diamond backgrounds were too busy, and how a solid would change the block. I had a teal print that read more like a solid in my scrap box, and gave it a whirl. I added 4 more blocks, and made some observations how they all worked together.

Friday, March 23, 2018

How to Piece a 6 Pointed Star from Scraps



Harlequin 
Six Pointed Star Hexie


My last post 60 Degree Shapes talked about experimenting with these blocks, and many of you said this was something on your own bucket lists. It's opened the door to another world of quilts to make, and I thought you might want to join me.

This is a picture heavy post for those of you who need to know before continuing, but you'll know all my tricks from cutting to problem shooting by the end. Shall we do this?

*This tutorial assumes basic sewing techniques of a intermediate sewist.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Star Quilt from Strips: 3D Groovy


3D or '70's Groovy Star Block

This 36" block was created to pattern test an EQ7 project I was working on. When I pulled fabric from my stash, it had a definite 70's feel, and I was transported back to the summer I had a sundress in these colors. How vividly I remember the colors and patterns of clothes my mother made for me growing up! I'm sure my early memories influence a lot of color choices without me realizing it. Have you found this too?

Friday, July 7, 2017

Dangerous Roads Quilting


"Dangerous Roads"


First things first, folks. I've been on 'blogcation', meaning I took a break from blogging. Unplanned, but it happened naturally. The rhythm of summer took over with holidays, friends, home projects, and keeping up with acres and acres of mowing. The heat and rain just keep coming here in the Midwest, with no end in sight. My current projects have been full marathons as opposed to when I could say, "Look at the pot holder I whipped up!" 

Monday, April 25, 2016

Improv Art Quilt Progress



I thought I should show you some progress after a design wall stall. I jumped ship on this project to work on the Naked Ladies quilt, but I'm back. 


This particular project has taken a lot of my time just standing and staring. Rarely have I ever made anything like this, and it has taken a while to adjust to. First was the color, width, and variety of the strips. 

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Mrs. Bannister's Star Finish and a Y-Seam Link Party




More Design On the Fly


Winter light makes it tough to get the shot just right.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Never Say Never


'Mrs. Bannister's Stars'
Block from Jen Kingwell's  Quilt Lovely


Some time ago I heard from other quilters that any piecing involving Y-seams was not worth doing. End of story. They had tried everything, and there wasn't one technique that made it easy enough to be successful. I believed them, and from then on knew well enough to avoid patterns with troublesome Y-seams

Then I met an experienced quilter who said Y-seams weren't that hard, and you can also chain piece them to make lots of blocks quickly. (What?!) She had my full attention. Meet Mary Huey from the blog, Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals, and she's made a dvd called Set-in Piecing Simplified available from her blog. I had the chance to see it a few weeks ago. Immediately, I thought of all the projects in Quilt Lovely I had crossed off my To-Do List because of those Y-seams-I-was-Never-doing. I was excited, and ready to give her techniques a try. 


Adding Complexity to the Y-seam Project

Last week I had a stash trade with a friend, and got these amazing fabrics I'd been hunting. All the fabrics either looked vintage or really were. My own stash was organized into modern and current prints, and then older 80's fabrics with a few vintage pieces. Two bins. Either this or that. I never would have thought to use them both in the same project before, but something about the Kingwell patterns hit me as a perfect design for intentionally mixing vintage with modern.

*Note: Jen Kingwell doesn't specifically promote using vintage and modern together in her book, but does use a wide variety of what she likes. She promotes using a huge number of different prints, colors, textures, and styles. Most definitely a reason I'm attracted to her quilts. Most prints in the book tend toward the vintage or reproduction side, which I didn't own. I have a tendency to imagine how every project I come across would look with bright, modern fabrics, but am also highly attracted to the vintage, and especially 1930's prints. I wondered why I was limiting my choices, and how I could tweak her look to make my own.

Could I blend true vintage fabrics with modern prints, 
and make it work successfully?

I would make this goal part of my Y-seam project. I immediately evaluated which project to start out of Quilt Lovely, and fell in love with Mrs. Bannister's Stars. 


Mrs. Bannister's Stars was my pick, but little did I realize the process of making my own templates, etc. at the start. I did a small pile of pieces at night in front of the t.v. before I realized I had cut mirror images when my fabrics weren't all the same side up. Then I used the wrong fabric with the wrong template. Frustrated and tired, I went to bed. I was learning.



The next day I started fresh. I hauled my mess back to the studio where I could stand up to cut things out, and had better focus with no t.v. Afraid I might not be able to do this block, I only cut out the center pieces. Using Mary Huey's technique, I sewed the center together. 


I felt like a Rock 'Star'! 

I will give away no secrets, but only 2 of my seams were
a little off, and I knew right away how to correct them from what I learned on the dvd. It was that good!



Can you pick out the Riley Blakes, DS Collection, and Kate Spain fabrics? Can you tell the vintage here is all real vintage? 

I used a more current, traditonal print for the outer part of the block. There's plenty of mixing in the fabric styles, and I'm all about this project now! 



A Hairy Tangent

When our older kids were very little, I brought home a pony named Buck for them. My husband questioned why I would seriously buy a pony named Buck. Two horses and another pony later, allergies and asthma, I vowed no more horses. Never again.

Meet Hot Tamale, a.k.a. Marco. He's a 5 year old Welsh pony, and the newest barn mate. He stands just 12.1 or around 125 cm.





Love his socks and stripey hooves!
The Llama boys and Evie are just the 
tiniest bit curious.



They track his every move. Introductions are going well, but there is a lot of drama between a fiesty gelding and curious llamas.


I'll keep you up to date on his progress. I, uh, we, hesitated strongly with this pony, and it took some bravery on my part to know my teenager was going to be putting herself at risk with another animal. Fear is a big deterent whether it's a pony or Y-seams, but it can stop us from growing and having the most wonderful of life's experiences. Once again, I remind you of this:



Push yourself to do something today you didn't think you could do. Remind yourself that most mistakes can be corrected, and allow yourself the chance to grow.


Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew some Y-seams.




Linking up with~
Freshly Pieced
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Story
Late Night Quilter
Freemotion by the River
Show and Tell Tuesday
Blossom Heart Quilts
Lily's Quilts